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Destiny DLC: New Raid Won't Offer Hard Difficulty Until January

By now it seems gamers have a pretty good handle on what Destiny's The Dark Below expansion includes. Granted, it may not be the most substantial DLC expansion that we've seen, and it certainly has some confusing additions, but the promise of a new raid may well prove to be The Dark Below's saving grace.

While Destiny raids might not be as mind-blowing or challenging after 10 runs, there's no forgetting that first completion. Taking down Atheon is no easy task for the uninitiated; it requires patience, coordination, and a little luck.

That's all to say that anticipation for Destiny's next raid, Crota's End, is at an all-time high. Gamers are ready to tackle whatever knew horrors await at the bottom of the Hellmouth, and once players are done they will most likely load it right back up again.

However, up until now we have been operating under the assumption that Crota's End would offer two challenges to potential raiders: one normal and one hard. But it turns out that is not the case, as the "hard" version of Crota's End is not set to release until January.

Bungie has yet to say why the hard version of The Dark Below's raid is delayed, but there appear two likely scenarios. One is that Bungie wanted to give players some time to get acquainted with the normal difficulty before jumping into hard, and the other is that this hard raid will have some new features.

As we know, Crota's End's recommended level is 30 for the normal difficulty, meaning even the most veteran of Destiny players will come in at the bare minimum. And the only way to get past level 30 and up to the new level cap of 32 is seemingly by collecting new raid gear. In other words, there's no point in opening up the hard raid until players have run through the normal version a few times. Then those players can tackle Crota's End on hard, which has a recommended level of 32.

The other possibility is that Bungie is still working on new wrinkles for the higher difficulty version of Crota's End, beyond just some basic difficulty changes. The Vault of Glass features a few small changes on hard, namely that players cannot revive each other, but the challenge comes mostly from higher level enemies. But perhaps Bungie is looking to do more with Crota's End. Perhaps.

More than likely, though, the delay is just a delay, but it's still important for gamers to know what they are paying $19.99 or $35.99 for. We'll also make sure to give a firm date for the hard raid as soon as Bungie reveals it.

How do you feel about the hard raid getting delayed until January? What changes would you like to see for the higher difficulty version?